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Juro Kazuma
:"Before swine, the worm shall turn, and nothing will venture." - Reversereality Juro Kazuma 'is a recurring supporting character in Bleach: Project Genseki. He is the younger twin brother of Akimoto Kazuma. Unlike his twin brother, Juro does not have Huntington's Disease. He seems to know more about than he lets on. His job in the Kido Corps is to serve as a one of the liaisons for the institution and new potential members. He (and some other Kido Corps members) are also tasked to scout out other Souls gifted in Kido and privately train them to develop their powers. Juro may also pass down his specialty of Kido Incantation Class such as Teori Eishō down to his students (ie. Renai Iwasaki). Appearance He is a rather short boy of average build, donning the standard Kido Corps garb. He purple eyes seem to look distant and blank. Despite his age, he looks rather young and boyish. When he isn't doing his duties and is visiting Rukongai, Juro wears the traditional Soul Reaper's garb with a white scarf that can trail behind him on the ground. He usually uses it as a hood to loosely veil his face. Personality Cool and collected with a childish sense of wonder that can easily match his brother's, Juro Kazuma is slow to anger. He keeps an optimistic and carefree appearance that Akimoto finds to be sickening. This makes it sometimes unsettling to be with Juro because he lacks a genuine individuality that owns these characteristics; however, most people are unaware and enjoy his company much to his brother's envy and chagrin. Much like his brother and Ren, Juro is prone to evoke reactions from other people, and sees this as a favorite pastime. Juro also likes flair and boasts similar mannerisms like that of both Akimoto and Ren. His distinguishing characteristic is his politeness and deadpan way of speech that emerges into nearly abrupt spikes of cheeriness. He is aware of the positive effect this has on people (as well as the negative effect is has on Akimoto), and persists in taking on this personality trait. Despite this, it is more of a mask that he chooses to wear, and affirms that without this mask, there is nothing inside. This makes Juro rather passive especially with his duties for the Kido Corps. However, upon his reunion with Akimoto, it has been shown that Juro has proceeded to take active measure to bring Akimoto back and away from the Genseki project. This was the first instance where Juro is shown to hold anger and the first and only time where he is seen fighting with such anger. Like his brother, Juro is not naive with the emotions of others and profusely studies the ways in which the dynamics between people interplay. However, he is unwilling to engage his sympathies for them if it does not provide benefit to his own goals of preserving his familial bonds. This is why he takes an active role to reconcile the shaky bond between his brother and his friend, Ren, and does so with stoic loyalty and deadpan earnestness. Background Since Juro was not afflicted with Huntington's Disease, he had the privilege to wander outside the house and play with the other kids. One day, a young Juro encounters a young Renai Iwasaki and the two quickly become friends. Being envied by his sickly brother, Akimoto Kazuma, Juro allowed him to switch places so that Akimoto may go outside. It was then did Akimoto meet Ren Iwasaki, who mistook him for Juro. The pair eventually became friends and they played often around District 79. Some years later, Akimoto developed enough Spiritual Pressure to inhibit his symptoms, and that was when he was able to go outside without any assistance with Juro tagging along. The boys would visit Ren often outside her dangerous district and played together. Eventually, Juro and Akimoto were involved in multiple gambling schemes as they racked scores of money from shady organizations. That all ended when Akimoto witnessed Ren being abused and raped in her home in District 80 by the very people he's swindled. Using his condition as an excuse to not rescue her, Akimoto conveniently slipped away, while Juro attempts to help her. That same night, Akimoto goes back to retrieve his brother. He finds an unconcious Juro in Ren's room and just as he was about to leave through the window, Ren chastises Akimoto for not helping her. She expressed her disdain and disappointment by stripping herself naked and pointing to all the scars and bruises on her body while telling him the stories behind each and every mark. The distraught Akimoto carried Juro and left with a pained expression. After some time, Akimoto forced himself to forget about seeing Ren's scars; however Juro had a hand in making Akimoto forget by using Kido. ears later, Akimoto posed as Juro again in the Soul Reaper academy before begin whisked away towards the 12th Division for experimentation. This prompted Juro to find Akimoto in an attempt to bring him back. Juro becomes elected to join the Kido Corps in the meantime where he masters his use of Kido spells and attains Shikai. He tells the news of Akimoto to Ren and periodically gives her any updates. Plot Confrontation Arc After Akimoto's first mission under Project Genseki, Juro and Among Isa lead him into unknown barracks. Juro then says that Akimoto should quit being a Soul Reaper and an 'experiment' under the 12th Division so that the brothers can go home and rest easy while not putting themselves in danger. Akimoto snaps and rejects Juro's proposal, saying that he is happy where he is and that being a Soul Reaper has provided him an opportunity to learn and explore more about the Human World. Angered at Akimoto's answer, Juro pleads that Akimoto should join the Kido Corps instead, so that no harm may come to him when doing his duties as both a Soul Reaper and an experiment. Akimoto remains stubborn with his decision and attempts to leave the barracks but couldn't find an exit. Respecting Akimoto's decision, the other Kido Corps member, Amon, lets Akimoto out of the room and transports him back to his last location. Akimoto then heads back to District 63 and meets with his mother and father after three years. They are joined by Juro, who comes to Akimoto leaving him a fair warning that 'a certain someone is waiting for your next move.' Afterwards, Juro attends to the Blackthorn brothel and relays to Ren about Akimoto's whereabouts. After discussing the plans regarding Akimoto's lost memory, Juro performs Jinzen to ask advise from his Zanpakutou, Kagerou. Kagerou says that since Juro and Akimoto are twin brothers, their souls are somewhat linked and that this extends as far as Zanpakutous. This allows Kagerou to partially sense the remnant state of mind of Akimoto and his bond with his Zanpakutou. Kagerou mentions to Juro about Akimoto's Zanpakutou, Odoruningyō, and tells him that the spirit's appearance matches that of Ren's. Somewhat surprised at this, Juro surmises that it is possible that the memory he sealed away may be a contributing factor. He is momentarily shocked with Kagerou's next words: Because of this, this has formed the birth of Ren's Zanpakutou and has created another link with Akimoto's soul-- a bridge that leads to Ren. She tells him to sense Odoruningyō is filled with hatred for Ren, and plans to kill her once she touches her Zanpakutou. By sensing Odoruningyō's hate for Ren, Juro decides that Akimoto can Ren must reconcile before Odoruningyō attempts to damage Ren's soul by imposing her own will upon Ren's Inner World. Doing so, will mend Akimoto's state of mind and hopefully stop Odoruningyō from attacking Ren. For Ren's safety and Akimoto's guilty state of mind, Juro affirms a plan of action that will make make his brother and friend reconcile. Juro leaves the Jinzen state and looks about Ren's room in search for a katana. He finds a slender nodachi Ren's wall display and confiscates it from her by saying that it is a cursed sword. Ren let's this pass as she attends to some costumers on her list. Juro then enters Jinzen with Kagerou and the nodachi on his side and speaks with the Zanpakutou spirit, Hakuchou. Juro warns the spirit of what is to happen if Akimoto and Ren do not reconcile. Heeding Juro's pleas, Hakuchou partially crosses to Odoruningyō's Inner World and convinces her to prompt Akimoto to reconcile with Ren. In exchange, Odoruningyō offers to exact her will upon Hakuchou should Akimoto is led astray with his own burdens. With the deal met, Juro exits out of the Jinzen state and awaits Akimoto and Ren's reunion. In the meantime, he collaborates with Ren to give Akimoto a gift. The two discuss Akimoto's memories and the path that he'll take to stray from an unhealthy obsession of the past. Atonement Arc After catching wind of the events, Juro meets with Akimoto, Ren, and Juro in the Kazuma household. He presents Akimoto a thin white hoodie that goes underneath the Soul Reaper's garb. Afterwards, Juro touches Akimoto's forehead and gives him some parting words: "There are things that need to be said." And with that, Juro releases the seal implanted on Akimoto's memory, and thus making him remember the memory of Ren's scars later on in the Bankai Experimentaton Arc. Bankai Experimentation Arc Juro gives Ren the nodachi and offers to train her in Kido prior to her enrollment in Shinō Academy. Since Hakuchou is subjugated by Odoruningyō, Juro thinks that Ren will not obtain Shikai. Juro enters Jinzen and talks with Kagerou about Odoruningyō. He discovers that Odoruningyō still plans to eliminate Ren when Akimoto is learning Bankai. Juro tells Ren to head to her house under the guise that she needs to tell her mother about her plans for enrolling in Shinō Academy. While sending Ren away from danger, he keeps her nodachi with him. He heads out to the forest in Rukongai and awaits Odoruningyō's arrival. She then emerges from the nodachi and confronts Juro about Ren's whereabouts. He refuses to tell her and activates his Shikai before engaging her in battle. As the two continue fighting out their stalemate, a worn-out Odoruningyō is called back to Akimoto. Relieved that his struggle is over, Juro tends to his wounds and heads back to retrieve Ren with her nodachi in tow. TIMESKIP (post winter war) ??? Arc Juro tells Ren the circumstances regarding Odoruingyō and Hakuchou's conception. This prompts Ren to learn Shikai for Akimoto's sake. Memoirs Arc Hearing news of Akimoto's death in battle, Juro makes for the body to be delivered to the Kazuma family's home. He mourns with his family for his brother's death. Ren arrives a day after and grieves on Akimoto's side. She then tells Juro her plans on reviving Akimoto, which Juro does not accept. Juro attempts to persuade Ren from doing so if it would end her life and says that Akimoto would have wanted it this way. Ren then tells Juro that it is fine with her since, reviving Akimoto through her Zanpakutou's abilities would not make him remember her. Juro eventually gives up from Ren's stubbornness and preserves Akimoto's body so that Ren can learn Bankai to perform the technique. Juro then begins writing a book that chronicles the whims and adventures of he and his friends in order to preserve Ren's memory. He finishes the book by the time Ren leans Bankai. Just before Ren performs her "Blood Price" technique, the two exchange their farewells. Juro, struggling to maintain his deadpan and stoic face, breaks down into tears. Ren performs the technique and Juro hides her body and blood with Kyokkō as Akimoto wakes. He shudders when Akimioto croaks out a voice and then puts him into a deep sleep with Kido. Juro then takes Ren's body and buries her beside the blackthorn where he and Akimoto would always meet with her. Juro wakes Akimoto up the next day and helps him with his rehabilitation. Without his brother's memories of Ren, Juro feels that Akimoto is a different person and becomes lonely. Memento Mori Arc Juro visits Ren's grave on her birthday and reads to her pages of his finished book. After praying, Juro is confronted by Akimoto, who jokes that even Juro can get emotional at times. This enrages him, and Juro storms off while spouting insults to his brother. This leaves Akimoto very surprised. Some weeks after, Juro notices that his book is gone and struggles to find it around his house. Heading towards the Kido Corps's station, Amon and Shizuka give him negative replies on the book's whereabouts. Fearing the worst case scenario, Juro heads for Ren's grave and sees an unconscious Akimoto, who has stabbed himself with his Zanapkutou. He immediately tends to Akimoto's wounds. Akimoto then wakes up in Juro's arms, and with a smile, Akimoto tearfully celebrates that he has finally remembered ''her and that she will never leave for as long as he lives. Sometime, Akimoto would train with Juro to further each their Kido abilities. From Akimioto's Shikai, Juro has applied the use of Spirit Ribbons into his use of Teori Eishō. Powers and Abilities '''Swordsman Specialist: Despite him being a member of the Kido Corps, Juro does not eschew swordsmanship. He has basic knowledge on how to handle a sword, but with a battle against a skilled opponent, such as Odoruningyō, he is easily overwhelmed. Nevertheless, he knowledge of swordsmanship sufficed when he is seen parrying Odoruningyō's long ranged attacks. High Reaction Time: To make up for his lack of agility and ability to maintain shunpo-based combat, he has honed his reflexes to deal with strikes. In tandem with his Kido abilities, he is able to at least keep himself at bay from a flurry of strikes from Odoruningyō. High Intellect: He is known to incorporate his knowledge of Spirit Ribbons from the mechanics of Kurenaikoushi into his Kido casting. With this, he has furthered research into Teori Eishō. Kido Master: As a member of the Kido Corps, Juro has obtained full mastery over Kido. In battle, he is seen to cast spells without name nor number and still have it preserve the same intensity had he would cast it with an incantation. He fond of casting his Kido spells by tracing the corresponding Kanji in the air that aligns with the spell he intends to use. He is also known to combine Kido spells together as noted in his skirmish with Akimoto. One such tactic is by using #26. Kyokkō with any destructive Hadō spell to mask its trajectory before impact. This makes it appear that the resulting explosion did not originate from Juro's hand. Before joining the Kido Corps, Juro has been using Kido to seal Akimoto's memories. His apparent talent lies not in the destructiveness of his spells, but his quick ability to encode his spells by weaving corresponding Kanji signs. Because of this, he is a prime user of Teori Eishō (纏上詠唱, Woven Incantation). Teori Eishō aided him greatly with his battle with Odoruningyō, where his own gestures casted the spells to defend himself. As of now, he is attempting to apply this method to influence Reiatsu rather than Kido spells. After learning the mechanics of Reiraku manipulation, he has successfully applied it with Teori Eishō by inscribing woven kanji into the Spirit Ribbons. This allows Juro to readily cast spells, but the strength by far is severely diminished and is prone to rebounds due to Reiraku being traces of spirit energy. Zanpakutou Kagerou (蜉蝣, Mayfly): The sealed form takes on the appearance of a katana with an average length. The tsuba itself has open spaces that form an intricate design. *'Shikai': The release command is "Emerge". The tsuba on the sword splits apart and protrudes on what what it appears to be wings of a butterfly. The blade then turns into a shade of orange red with a white line that bisects the two sides. The blade becomes thin like that of a saber or a rapier and becomes double-edged. A small trinket of a mayfly is connected to the base of the handle with a black thread. :Shikai Special Ability: Kagerou's ability is to increase the amount of force when the weapon pierces through a target. The exit wound caused by the blade bursts even wider than the radius of the blade to ensure a killing stroke. This allows cuts and stabs to be very deep the moment the blade inflicts a wound on the target and also can create very wide wounds due to despite the small radius of the thin blade. It is like an insect erupting out of its shell. Bankai: Kagerou (陽炎, Heat-Haze): The blade of the Shikai shines, crumbles, and sublimates into a colorless gas at an instant before shooting itself forward. The handle of the blade is all that remains when Bankai is performed. :Bankai Special Ability: The gas serves as a catalyst that repeatedly ignites the air. The gas also draws in more of the air to continue the combustion. The explosion lasts only in the instant the blinding shine is emitted from the blade. After use, the handle of the katana is left and Bankai nor Shikai may be used until the blade is reconstructed. Juro also has to relearn Bankai from the 'next' Kagerou since using the Bankai actually destroys Kagerou's body along with her current memories. This limits his use of Bankai to once every two weeks. Stats (without Shikai) Stats (with Shikai) Relationships Akimoto Kazuma Juro Kazuma loves his brother and is loyal to his brother's wishes. He is close with his brother and the two make an inseparable team when they were gambling. Now that Akimoto is under the Genseki project, Juro has made numerous attempts to make sure that his brother is safe. This also extends with his brother's relationship with Odoruningyō, since Ren's life is at stake due to Odoruningyō's hatred for her. In order to preserve Akimoto's sanity, Juro makes it so that Ren is kept safe. He even gives Akimoto a hand-made gift. Despite his silence, Juro was despondent on Akimoto's death, and even though he was eventually revived through Ren's Bankai, Akimoto never appeared to the same, which made Juro hurt. Juro was conflicted whether or not to make Akimoto remember Ren, for it was possible that Akimoto would end his own life if he ever find out about Ren's death. Renai Iwasaki Juro and Renai are very close friends. They both confide in each other, and Juro had no problem in sharing news concerning Akimoto with her. Like his brother, Juro protects her well-being for his brother's sake, but that does not mean that he disregards her. Juro was the first to act when Ren was being assaulted, and continues to protect her the best he can, especially from Odoruningyō's hatred. He and Ren continue to remain as friends and continue to conspire together in order to ease Akimoto's burden. With Ren's death, Juro seemed to be affected the most, since he failed to convince her not to take her own life. He also had to bury her body beside a blackthorn (a significant monument of their childhood). When meeting with Kurenaikoushi, he treats her just the same as he did with Ren. Amon Isa He is Juro's colleague. He accompanies him when meeting with Akimoto. Shizuka Koda She is also Juro's colleague and was involved in Juro's plans to have Akimoto come to Juro. She also tested Akimoto's Kido abilities by stealing his Zanpakutou according to Juro's instructions. However, Akimoto does not remember any of this, and all record of this is long forgotten. Nevertheless, Shizuka, along with Amon, form a consistent team with Juro regarding Kido affairs, tutoring, and recruiting. Kagerou She is Juro's Zanpakutou. The two form such a healthy and respectable bond. Kagerou is eager to help with Juro's affairs concerning Akimoto and Ren. Trivia * Loves walks and strolls. * He owns a notebook of many written accounts of the people he's observed. He finds profiling the trivial matters on others' lives to be a hobby. * He often shares these observations with Ren. * According to Reversereality, Juro's theme song is "Chamber of Hellos" by Wire Train. * Juro's name in Kanji (住楼) can be broken down as juu(住) and rou (楼), meaning "dwelling" and "watchtower" respectively. His last name, Kazuma (カズマ) translates to 'True Harmony', which is ironic after events of Renai's death. * His character quote refers to some sort of ancient proverbs from various texts ancient or otherwise (ie. The Bible, Shakespeare, etc.) * He had to teach Ren how to play with a cat's cradle because she failed to grasp the concept of Teori Eishō (纏上詠唱, Woven Incantation). It turns out that Ren surpasses Juro in cat's cradle, but Juro's prowess in Teori Eishō remains unsurpassed. * His base stat total matches that of Akimoto's under the "Shikai" and "without Huntington's Disease" categories. * Since Akimoto's death, the 'bridge' between Juro and Akimoto's Inner Worlds are broken. Even with Akimoto's revival, the link between them is forever lost. Behind the Scenes * Juro would be voiced by Hiro Shimono for a Japanese dub, and Aaron Dismuke for the English dub. Quotes *(To Akimoto Kazuma) "There are things that you must say aloud to people." Category:Soul Reaper Category:Shinigami Category:Kido Corps Category:Characters Category:Mentors